


Captain Cottontail and Agent Duckie

by itsfaberrytaboo (orphan_account)



Series: Color the Sky [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Play, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, IT'S SO FLUFFY, JARVIS is a good bro, Natasha Needs a Hug, Non-Sexual Age Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 07:57:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6509566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/itsfaberrytaboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She’s brought out of the moment by an insistent, baby voice, and Natasha sees that the little girl in the gingham dress is standing in front of her, holding out a purple plastic egg.</p><p>“Yes,” Natasha says a little awkwardly. “You found an egg, good job.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Captain Cottontail and Agent Duckie

In all of the things Natasha has done with her life, dating Maria Hill ranks up there as one of the strangest.

Oh, there are good things about dating Maria. The sex is nice. Going to sleep cuddling and waking up cuddling, that’s even nicer. It doesn’t happen a lot, because Maria works too hard and Natasha is constantly on ops to try to rebuild SHIELD or help Cap try to find Bucky. But on the mornings when she can wake up and feel Maria’s hand protectively against the small of her back, even in sleep… it’s nice. It’s nice to watch Maria’s eyes flutter open, unfocused, and then see a grin settle on her face as she realizes it’s Natasha next to her. It’s a good feeling, to know that someone is glad to see her.

And it’s nice to _have_ someone, to be honest. Natasha isn’t sure she’s ever had that. She’s had partners. Teammates. She’s had friends, which is kind of new too. She’s had Clint, and now she has Cap, and sometimes there’s Sam. People that she can talk to or hang out with. Share a beer with and maybe a joke or two.

But it’s different, having someone to come _home_ to. And that’s another thing she’s never really had – a home. She’s had a place to sleep. A bed to be handcuffed to. She hasn’t had a smiling face glad to see her, a hot dinner waiting for her, a person who has worried about her and is glad that Natasha made it back from a mission alive. And yes, Maria is the director, and she worries about all her agents. But Natasha has never felt _different_ … and with Maria, everything is different.

What’s strange is what dating Maria Hill does to Natasha Romanoff. She’s a Russian assassin, for god’s sake. She doesn’t _do_ love. She’s never quite sure how to deal with being loved, or how to deal with loving anyone. There are people she _cares_ about, sure. Her team. Clint and Laura and the kids. She cares about Maria.

But there’s something different about this caring. This caring, with Maria, is so damn strange, because it has Natasha doing things she’s never been taught to do, things that before now would never have even crossed her mind. She now has information that even as an assassin, she’s never needed to know.

She knows exactly how Maria likes her coffee: black, with one sweetener. She knows Maria prefers waffles over pancakes, that she has a soft spot for the Mexican restaurant down the street. That if you don’t call by 3 p.m. for reservations to said restaurant, you won’t get in. (Natasha prides herself on being prompt.) She knows that Maria loves Star Wars, hates the prequels, and even as an adult still claps her hands at her favorite part in The Empire Strikes Back. (“I love you. “I know.”)

Maria calls Natasha her scoundrel. Natasha isn’t sure if she should be insulted, but she likes the sound of it, when Maria says it.

Natasha knows how much a dozen roses costs at the flower shop, and what time they’ll arrive. Now the girl at the flower shop knows that when the redhead walks in, it’s for a dozen roses to be delivered to SHIELD headquarters, with a card that simply says “For you, from me.”

Those four words say a lot more than Natasha’s used to.

Dating Maria means _endless_ teasing from Rogers, because he seems to be way too amused for his own good by the fact that Natasha apparently gets this dopey grin on her face when she receives a text that only says “Thinking about you.” And then he rolls his eyes because sometimes the grin is an entirely different one, when Maria sends “Thinking about you,” followed up by, “Naked.”

Sparring usually gets cut short when she gets _those_ messages, because suddenly Commander Hill has _urgent business_ she needs Agent Romanoff to attend to.

Natasha knows that Maria doesn’t like talking about her childhood, and that’s okay, because Natasha isn’t fond of talking about _hers_. But she _knows_ , and so does Maria, and that’s also okay, because Natasha gets to curl up in her lap and be Natalia; Maria will sometimes hum and rock her in her arms, and somehow, that makes talking about everything unnecessary.

So yes, dating Maria Hill is strange. It has Natasha Romanoff saying things she never thought she’d say, feeing things she never thought she could. And doing things just for Maria that, before nearly a year ago, she’d have scoffed at if anyone had suggested it.

Like attending the First Annual SHIELD Easter Egg Hunt.

Natasha spreads the red and white blanket out over the grass and plunks down on it, fake-glowering a little as Maria smirks down at her.

“The grass is wet,” she complains, folding her arms across her chest.

“It’s a little damp,” Maria agrees, sitting down next to her. “But you’re on a blanket, sweetheart, you don’t need to worry about ruining your precious jeans.”

Natasha rolls her eyes and looks out across the park. It’s a little after eleven in the morning, and already the park is full with children eagerly clutching their Easter baskets and waiting for the start of the hunt. Little boys and girls excited at the Easter Bunny that is milling among them, posing for pictures and lifting them up for a hug. Their parents, junior and senior agents alike, congregate by the tables of food and drinks: cakes and sandwiches, soda and punch. 

Their resources were limited, but Maria spares no expense when it comes to restoring camaraderie and courage in a group of people that had nearly been destroyed, when they’d taken their own agency down with Hydra.

“This was one of your better ideas,” Natasha admits.

“Thanks,” Maria says, sounding a little surprised. “You know I’ve been trying to think of ways to make us stronger, and if it helps us look better in the public…” She tips her chin over to the news reporter and cameraman stood filming just on the outside of the park.

“It’ll be worth it.”

“You did good, Commander.”

“Thanks, Agent.”

They’re distracted by the Easter Bunny, coming to loom over them with his hands on his hips. Natasha can’t help but laugh.

“Thanks for doing this,” Maria says, and it’s clear she’s fighting back her own amusement.

“No problem,” he says, his voice muffled underneath the enormous Easter Bunny head. “But do me a favor next time, will you? Fit me for the suit, Easter Bunny regulation size is not _me_ regulation size.”

“You got it, Captain Cottontail,” Maria says, finally giving in and chuckling.

He gives her a salute and actually hops off back into the crowd of children. Natasha shakes her head.

“He actually likes doing it.”

“Kind of like you.”

She leans back on her elbows against the blanket, and looks up at the sky. It’s a light blue glitter crayon kind of morning, just after last night’s rain. Natasha glances over at Maria.

“I’m here for you,” is all she says, and Maria smiles.

“Good enough.” She stands up then. “I need to go be sociable,” she says. “I’ll come back in just a few minutes.”

“Go be director,” Natasha says, and it’s not at all surprising, the pride she feels when she once again realizes that _her_ girl is the director of SHIELD.

She watches as Maria makes her way among her agents, stopping here and there to chat with them, to compliment the children on what they’re wearing. Maria feels more in her element at the office, Natasha knows, in her uniform and spouting off orders. But to Natasha it feels as if this is where Maria really shines. Dressed-down and casual, meeting her fellow team-members where they are: with their families, their children. Their hopes and dreams and their concerns. Maria stores everything her agents tell her, even on days like this, back in some far-off recess of her mind; some days it weighs her down, and those are the days Natasha hates. But most of the time, she takes everything her agents tell her, and she uses it for good. For change.

For an Easter egg hunt, to make the children happy.

All so that SHIELD can come back stronger, and keep on saving the world.

At exactly 11:30, Maria claps her hands, and the crowd next to her stills.

“I want all the kids over here,” Maria calls, and soon she’s surrounded by little boys and girls, some as old as thirteen, and one little baby just a year old, her hand held tightly in that of her older sister’s.

Maria kneels down so that she’s eye-level with the littler ones.

“Okay,” she says, her voice serious. “I have a super-secret mission I need your help on, okay?” The children murmur their assent, and for a moment, Natasha wishes she was with them.

She’d follow Maria Hill to hell and back. Or an Easter egg hunt.

“That Easter bunny,” Maria continues, pointing, “Has hidden special eggs all over this park, and _some people_ are trying to find them before we do! We can’t let that happen, can we?”

“No!” a little boy shouts, and the parents laugh.

“No, we can’t,” Maria says solemnly. “So I need all of you to look really hard, and find all the eggs, and take them home so that _nobody else_ can get to them, okay? The world is depending on you! Can you do it?”

The children excitedly agree, and Maria stands up. “All right, agents! Find those eggs, now!”

“I’m not sure if that was you opening up the hunt or recruiting future SHIELD agents,” Natasha jokes, and Maria grins as she flops back next to her.

“Maybe a little of both,” she says, her eyes scanning the park as she watches the children dash to and fro with their parents, plucking eggs out of the grass and from in between bars on the jungle gym.

Natasha can just barely hear the _whir_ of the SHIELD helicopter circling above them. It’s a sobering reminder that they’re still not as safe as they’d like to be.

“Thank you for coming,” she hears, and Natasha smiles when Maria’s fingers find hers and curl their hands together loosely.

“It’s cute,” Natasha says, laughing a little when she sees a little girl, no more than two years old and wearing a pink gingham dress, waddle over to a spot about a foot away from their blanket and squeal with delight when she finds an egg.

“Wish you were out there with them?”

Natasha looks over to find Maria smiling softly at her, and she doesn’t even hesitate before nodding.

“Yeah, I do.”

She wonders what it would be like, to be little and carefree, on a mission to find all of Captain Cottontail’s eggs before someone else does. She hadn’t even known that Easter egg hunts were a thing, when she was a child. And when she’d discovered what they were, well. She was Natasha Romanoff, Russian assassin.

She didn’t have time for child’s play.

Now… now she has Maria. She has Maria, and Agent Scruff, and her crayons and her blanket. She may not be able to do things with other children, and she’s not quite ready to go to any events with other littles and their aunts or uncles or mommies or daddies. But she has Maria, and she has time to be small.

That’s enough.

“Do you ever want kids?” she asks suddenly, and Maria seems a little taken aback.

“No,” she finally answers. “I decided a long time ago that my line of work is too dangerous for me to have kids. It’s hard enough for me to keep my agents safe enough so they can go back to their kids at night.” _And sometimes even then they don’t_ , Natasha knows she is thinking, by the way Maria’s eyes darken momentarily.

“Plus I’m not really mother material. I haven’t exactly had any examples on how to be a good mom.”

“That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be,” Natasha argues, and Maria squeezes her hand.

“I know. But it’s not for me.”

“You don’t…. think you’ll ever regret it?”

“No.” Maria scoots closer to Natasha, leans her head on Natasha’s shoulder. Everyone knows they’re dating, now, and even if they didn’t, Natasha knows Maria doesn’t care. And she doesn’t either.

“I have what I need.” Maria squeezes Natasha’s hand again. “I have my work. I have you. And I have Natalia.”

Natasha’s eyes widen; she can’t look down at Maria because of the way they’re sat, but she’s not sure what she would find there even if she could look. She realizes though, that when she has her time to be small, perhaps Maria also has her time when she can love and care, to nurture… Natasha wonders why the thought has never occurred to her before.

“Egg!”

She’s brought out of the moment by an insistent, baby voice, and Natasha sees that the little girl in the gingham dress is standing in front of her, holding out a purple plastic egg.

“Yes,” Natasha says a little awkwardly. “You found an egg, good job.”

“Egg!” The little girl has a determined look on her face, and she drops the egg into Natasha’s lap.

She hears Maria snicker next to her, and Natasha huffs at her.

“No, no, honey,” she says. “You’re supposed to keep…”

She trails off as the little girl toddles away. “The egg?”

“I think you have a fan,” Maria says, and Natasha snorts.

“She’s not following the directive. She’ll make a bad recruit.”

“But an adorable one,” Maria says, and Natasha is inclined to agree.

Moments later, her little fan comes clambering back up to her, this time dropping two bright blue eggs in Natasha’s lap.

“Egg!” she crows happily, before darting off again. Natasha sees that her father is watching, a junior agent with an embarrassed grin on his face. He shrugs at her, and she waves him over.

“What’s her name?” Maria asks.

“Elizabeth,” he says, taking the eggs Natasha is offering him. “I call her Betsy.”

“She’s beautiful,” Natasha says. “You’re John, right?”

He nods. “Well, you and Betsy’s mama have a beautiful little girl.”

“Thank you. Tara would be here, but she’s in the hospital. She’s been sick for a while. So it’s me and Betsy hunting eggs today.”

They’re quiet for a minute before Maria speaks up. “If you and Betsy need anything, John, you come find me. Whatever it is, okay?”

Betsy brings Natasha five more eggs, and each time Natasha subtly hands them off to her father. She glances over when she sees Maria pull her phone out of her pocket and start typing furiously.

“I thought there was no work today, Hill.”

Maria grins sheepishly. “Actually I’m setting a reminder to get a copy of all the footage the cameraman got. I want to make a video for Betsy’s mom. And I want to make sure she and John have all the resources they need.”

“You’re a good director,” Natasha says, and leans up to kiss her cheek. Maria turns her head at the exact right time, and Natasha smiles when their lips meet.

“Can I get some more of those tonight?” Maria asks. “I need a lot since you’re going to be leaving on Monday.”

Another op, another hunt.

“All the kisses we need and then some,” Natasha promises.

Betsy brings Natasha one last egg, and Natasha shocks herself when she pulls Betsy up for a hug, kissing her baby-soft cheek and smiling when the little girl wiggles happily in her arms.

Love, Natasha thinks, is for children.

One week later, her body is bone-weary as she opens the door to Maria’s apartment and drops her tac bag into the hall closet.

The op had been successful, from an intel standpoint. And they hadn’t died, which is an even better outcome. They’ve gotten good leads on Barnes’s whereabouts, and leads on some of the rats that hadn’t gone down with Hydra’s ship. It will mean a long report, but that’s okay.

Maria’s said it can wait till Monday, because Natasha is exhausted.

And because Natasha had sent her a text message, on the quinjet as it headed for home.

_Natalia needs you._

Five minutes later, the reply had come, and Natasha smiled when she saw it.

 _I’ll be waiting for her at my place_.

“Maria?” she calls, brow furrowed as she walks into the darkened living room and sees nothing of her dark-haired girlfriend.

“Excuse me, Agent Romanoff.”

The disembodied voice resounds through the empty apartment like a ghost.

“Yes, JARVIS?”

“Director Hill isn’t here at the moment.”

“Well then why did she tell me to come over here?” Natasha grumbles.

She’s disappointed. It’s taken a lot for her to get to the point where she can tell Maria when _she_ needs her, as Natasha. It’s even harder to admit that she’s so tired she needs to be little, that she needs to be taken care of.

“I’m afraid that Director Hill has not authorized me to have that information. She did request that I let you know Agent Duckie is on the dining room table with a mission for you.”

Natalia quirks an eyebrow. “Agent Duckie?” she repeats.

She moves further into the living room, towards the dining room table; she can vaguely make out some strange shapes in the dimness.

“JARVIS, can I get some light please?”

The room brightens, and Natasha closes her eyes and reopens them with a grin. On the table is sat Agent Scruff, in an Easter basket, alongside a plush yellow duck with fluffy bunny ears. He’s holding a piece of paper, and Natasha recognizes the smooth handwriting of her girlfriend.

She plucks up the note.

_Agent Natalia Romanova, I am Agent Duckie, your new partner. Agent Scruff and I have an urgent mission for you. The director has been captured, and is being held somewhere in the Tower. Someone has hidden ten eggs, and we need to find them before anyone else does! Nine are here in the apartment. You must rescue the director to retrieve the last egg. Hurry! She is depending on you!_

Natasha laughs. She laughs hard, and she picks up Scruff and Duckie and hugs them to her chest, nestling her face in their softness and breathing in _home_ , letting out ops and intel as she exhales. She heads for the bedroom, the two stuffed animals still in her arms, and smiles when she sees Maria has already laid out her dinosaur shirt, and her favorite pair of soft, flannel pajama pants with stars on them. She strips off her tac suit and pulls on her pajamas, taking a deep breath and allowing the quiet of the room to settle over her.

She’s used to Maria being there now, when Natasha “goes small,” but she’s done it before, all on her own. This isn’t any different, and Maria will be waiting for her at the end.

Natalia tucks Scruff and Duckie under her arm, and with the Easter basket in her other hand, she goes on the hunt.

The first egg isn’t difficult to find – Maria has left it out on the kitchen counter. It’s blue and sparkly, with a small duck sticker affixed to it. Natalia shakes it, and giggles when it rattles. She’ll wait until she’s with Maria to open them, she thinks, and settles it into the bottom of her basket.

Eggs two and three, in purple and pink, are tucked together under the couch. All too easy, Natalia thinks again. She’s a good agent; she can find anything. She wants to hurry up and find all the eggs, so that she can go find her Maria.

She wants the eggs and whatever is inside them, but she wants Maria the most.

The fourth egg takes some wrangling; Maria has put it inside the air vent, in the floor. Natalia isn’t so sure that’s safe for a little girl, but she’s not just _any_ little girl. The yellow egg with its bunny sticker joins its friends inside her Easter basket, and the search continues.

She finds another egg in Maria’s bedroom, resting on the windowsill behind the curtain. For a director she certainly has made the search too easy, Natalia thinks. But perhaps that was the point. She likes hunting, but this is simple and easy. She doesn’t feel tired anymore; just happy and excited and relaxed.

She walks around and around the living room, growing a little frustrated, when she spies a flash of red just out of the corner of her eye. She swivels her head around and squeals when she sees the bright red egg peeking out from the plant one of the other agents had given Maria a few weeks ago.

Another _girl_ agent. Natasha had not been happy about that. When she’s big she sometimes worries that Maria will find someone better, not as, well, _broken_ , as she is. But Maria always reassures her, there’s not anybody else.

Natasha has a hard time, sometimes. But Natalia believes her.

Eggs seven and eight are hidden behind the toilet, and Natalia thinks that’s just a little bit gross, but it’s also exciting because now she is _two_ steps closer to rescuing the director. Egg number nine, though, is a lot like Cap’s friend Bucky, she thinks.

It doesn’t want to be found.

She looks everywhere. In the cabinets, under the sink, under the couch again, in the cushions. Behind the television, everywhere she can possibly think. But no egg.

She finds herself pouting, her lower lip trembling, because Natalia _wants_ Maria. She wants a hug, to climb into Maria’s lap and be told what a good girl she is. But she’s not going to be a good agent if she can’t find the last egg.

Natalia huffs, still turning slowly about in the living room, trying to figure out a clue, any clue. But there’s nothing.

“JARVIS?” she says, and her voice is small, a little lonely.

“Yes, Miss Natalia.”

Maria and Natasha, when she’s big, have sat down and talked about some things. Words they can use when Natalia doesn’t want to play anymore, things they need to be safe about. And JARVIS sees everything, so he knows when Natasha is little. She’s not sure she likes it, but now, she might be able to use it to her advantage.

“I need help. I can’t find the egg.”

“Director Hill has not given me authorization to assist you in your search, Miss Natalia.”

“Oh.”

She pouts again. It’s already been fifteen minutes since she found the other eggs. Fifteen minutes and Maria might think she can’t do it, that Natalia has failed in her mission.

“It has been a rather long journey for you, Miss Natalia. Are you hungry? There is food in the refrigerator, if you are.”

Now that she thinks about it, she is a little hungry. Maybe Maria has some grapes for her, some milk too. Milk would be really nice. Maybe if she eats something she’ll be able to find the last egg and she can go get Maria.

Natalia goes off into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. She has to move quickly to catch the green egg as it nearly rolls off the shelf.

“JARVIS!” she shouts excitedly. “JARVIS I found it!”

“I had no doubt in you whatsoever, Miss Natalia.”

Now she can find Maria! Natalia tosses the egg into her Easter basket, throws open the apartment door… and freezes.

She’s never been little outside of her apartment, or Maria’s. What if someone sees?

But it’s Saturday, she thinks. Cap and Sam are probably watching football. And Tony is probably with Pepper. Maria wouldn’t make Natalia come out of the apartment if she thought anyone was going to see her.

Still, Natalia creeps along slowly, watching for any sign of one of the others, as she makes her way to Maria’s office.

Maria is not there.

She isn’t in the common room, either. She’s not in the gym, or in any of the hallways, or in the big kitchen that Maria sometimes loves to cook in. Steve likes to cook too; he makes good breakfasts, Natalia thinks, and her stomach rumbles.

She really _is_ hungry.

But she needs to find Maria first. Natalia retraces her steps, but still, Maria is nowhere to be found. Maybe she’s snuck back into her apartment, Natalia thinks, but she hasn’t.

Natalia pouts, feeling her lower lip tremble again. She’s checked _everywhere_. Maria wouldn’t be in another Avengers apartment…

Natalia’s eyes widen. She races into the hallway again, this time with Agents Duckie and Scruff under her arm and her basket in her hand. This time she doesn’t care who sees her, because she is a little girl on a mission, and her own apartment is just at the end of the hall.

She throws open her door, and lets out a happy gasp, because Maria is _there_ , Maria is waiting for her, and she barely has time to open her arms before Natalia flings herself into them.

“I found you!” she says breathlessly. “I’m here to rescue you!”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Maria says, dropping _so many_ kisses to the top of Natalia’s head. “I was so worried, I thought no one would ever come save me.”

“I’ll always save you,” Natalia says with determination. She pulls back and grins at Maria. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, _milaya_. And look!” She hands Natalia the last egg, a shiny golden glittery one, and Natalia lets out a soft “Ooooh” of wonder.

“Do you want to see what’s inside them?”

“Yes, please!”

Maria leads Natalia to the couch and Natalia climbs up into her lap, happy when Maria wraps her arms around Natalia’s waist and snuggles her close.

Four of the eggs hold chocolate and jelly beans, and Maria makes Natalia promise that she won’t eat them all at once, because it would make her sick. The other six eggs have Shaggy and Scooby Doo Lego figures; a little girl’s bracelet with purple and pink beads; a bottle of clear glitter nail polish; a small figure of Elsa and Anna from Frozen; a wind-up bunny; and, in the very last egg, a small picture of Maria and Natasha from the Easter egg hunt. Maria must have gotten that from the cameraman from the tv station.

“That’s so you’ll always have a picture to take with you, whether you’re big or little,” Maria explains with a kiss to Natasha’s cheek.

“I like this the best,” Natalia declares, holding the picture close to her. “Do you have one too?”

“Yep,” Maria says.

“Good.” She snuggles into Maria again; Maria laughs when she hears Natalia’s stomach growl.

“You haven’t eaten very well the last few days, have you?”

“Not really,” Natalia shrugs. She whines a little when Maria moves to stand up from the couch, shuffling Natalia off her lap.

Maria takes Natalia’s hand in hers, tugging her towards the door. Natalia picks up her stuffed animals and her basket with all of her new toys in it. She likes this Easter egg hunt a lot better than SHIELD’s, she thinks. This one was just hers.

“I think what you need now is a good dinner,” Maria says, walking them down the hall with her arm protectively wrapped around Natalia’s waist. Natalia can see that Maria is also checking to see if they’re going to run into anyone; they’re both relieved when they make it unnoticed back to Maria’s apartment.

“A good dinner, and then maybe I’ll give you a bath, would you like that?”

“Can I use the paints?”

Maria had found a set of special crayons that could be used in the bath, and she nods.

“You can use the paints.”

“And can we read after?” Natasha had picked up some picture books at the store the last time she’d gone for the groceries, with brightly colored illustrations and simple sentences on each page.

“We’ll see how tired you are after, how’s that?”

“Okay.” She is _very_ tired after all. She’ll probably fall asleep in Maria’s lap, but that’s okay, because Maria always carries her to the bed.

“I can’t believe you found the eggs all by yourself, you’re such a good agent.”

“Yes.” Natalia puffs her chest out proudly. “I am the best agent.”

She hesitates, then glances around. “Thanks, JARVIS,” she whispers, hopefully low enough for Maria not to hear.

In response, the lights dim slightly, then come back up full measure.

“Huh, wonder what that was,” Maria says from the kitchen. “I hope the power’s not going to go out.”

Natalia grins and heads into the kitchen. Time to spread out all of her new toys on the table. Time to play, while Maria cooks their dinner.

Time to be _home_.


End file.
